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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Proofers Activate!

Proofer in Action

As of today, all the proof copies for Dragonfriend have either been mailed out or hand delivered to shadowy figures across the land. Known to me as "Proofers," I await their feedback with bated breath. They are my last, best hope for an error free read.

After their changes are made, it'll be time for final tweaks on the interior and cover design, another "final" proof copy and then, Then, THEN...a vigorous smackdown on the "Approve" button! In the meantime, I'm working toward completing the first draft of the second book in the series (so expect to see some movement on the long-neglected progress bar to the right).

Elsewhere in the news, I have an irresistible urge to list my top three favorite Pixar films:

1. The Incredibles: One of the best animated films of all time and the top of my Pixar list due to superb animation, voice casting, and a top notch script. (Side note to Brad Bird: Please come up with a story idea you like and do the sequel. NOW!)

2. Monsters, Inc.: Hilarious, full of heart without being schmaltzy, a completely original setting. Works on every level and like all of the top Pixar films is infinitely re-watchable. I'm very happy they're doing a prequel to this one.

3. Up: Great characters, fun story, and heart -- the magical mixture that Pixar seems to be the best at doing (notable exception: Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda -- so good I have to keep reminding myself it's not a Pixar project).

21 comments:

"Up" was fantastic (and incredibly sad in the opening scenes where they grow old together and his beloved wife dies).

So my top three are "Up" (we agree there!); "How To Train your Dragon" (I just LOVE Vikings and dragons, and the massive dragon near the end... whoa!!); and "Tangled" (yes, it's a fairy tale and not even Pixar, but the whole thing looks amazing, the horse was really funny, and I kinda have a thing for Rapunzel).

Back to Leonard -- what's your deadline on proofed copies being returned?

Keith - I know you're doing me a solid here, so I'll take it when I can get it. My goal is to publish by the end of this month. That being said, would it be possible to get your feedback by, let's say, sometime during the week of the 19th?

Best of luck with the proofers (sounds like some kind of clandestine undercover mission)!

I loved all three of your Pixar favorites. I think I appreciated Up more than my kids did. But Monsters Inc was truly great and The Incredibles flat out fun - I was so sure they'd do sequels to that one = they set themselves up for it so well - and was disappointed when they didn't!

Thanks for dropping by my blog and saying HI. I am looking forward to JOHN CARTER OF MARS by Pixar and Disney. Check out the trailer. My favorite Pixar I am hoping will be THE BEAR WITH TWO SHADOWS. Hey, I can dream, can't I?

Hey there fellow Fantasy writer. I've just returned form a week vacation and have found you on the Campaign. It looks like we're both in the middle of major edits. Happy to meet you. I'm following you.

Greetings from a fellow campaigner. We're in the same fantasy group, so I thought I'd pop by. My head is still swimming from reading all those flash fiction pieces in the first challenge. And I didn't even get to half of them!

Best of luck on the proofing. Getting every little thing is tough (even the Big 6 don't manage it), but a worthy goal. My MS is going through a beta read right now.

As for the Pixar movies, I enjoyed The Incredibles and Monsters, Inc. I'm afraid the beginning part of Up where the guy loses his wife pretty much ruined the whole movie for me. However, to this day when we walk the dogs through our forest, my wife and I shout "Squirrel!" whenever we see one.

Proofing... I can't tell you how many typo's I've caught in published works this last week alone. Super excited for you--and wishing you the best.

I agree with your movies except UP. Personally I was a little PO-ed at the writers about the extreme emotional trip at the beginning. Grr. Dumb writers. If I want to cry I'll do it on my own merits. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON is definitely my #1.

From Pixar, I have to say WALL-E is my absolute favorite. Up is also great. From others, I love Ice Age and yes, How to Train Your Dragon. So many amazing animated movies came out the last several years, that if I start listing all those I liked, it might take me a long time :D

Amazingly, I haven't seen "How to Train You Dragon," but it is in my Netflix queue so, thanks to everyone's mentions, I'm really looking forward to seeing it!

I agree with the assertions that "Up" was very emotional up top but, I don't know, that kind of worked for me. I guess I something of a sentimentalist.

@Roland - I'm also looking forward to "John Carter of Mars," those books were some of my favorite childhood reads (did you ever read the "Carson of Venus" books? They were also entertaining but a little hoakie as Burroughs did things like name the main villains "Zanis", an obvious anagram of Nazis!). After looking at the "Carter" trailer though, I found myself wishing they hadn't made everyone in the movie so pretty!

@MyTricksterGod: Yes, you're right. My other blog has been inactive for quite a while. I originally thought I might need it for when I started publishing (this month) as the "contact me" url in the book. Now, I'm not so sure and am thinking about canning it and just using The Novel Project. On the other hand, I'm not sure TNP is the right title for my main online author presence. Any thoughts on that?

60k words in five days? I wish! Did I give that impression in any of my posts? I think my head would explode if I tried to crank out that many words in that amount of time!

Regarding your question about whether or not TNP is a good choice for your main writer blog, I've seen two approaches to the situation that seem to work well.

One is to set up separate blogs and put your "writing for writers" on one of them and your "writing for readers" on the other.

The second is to dedicate a specific slots of time on your blog for one kind of post versus the other. For example, if you post multiple times per week, you could make sure that Writer Wednesday always has writer tips while Fan Friday always has articles your readers would be more interested in.